BEIJING, Aug 3 (Reuters) - China unveiled new measures to attract high-tech talent for military modernisation on Friday, two days after President Hu Jintao promised more money for the defence drive.
Hu signed the measures to "attract and retain high-level specialist technical talent", the official People's Daily reported.
Hu is chairman of the Central Military Commission, the ruling Communist Party's body for controlling the two-million strong People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The PLA has been shedding ordinary troops so it can put more money into specialised personnel and high-tech arms, and the new measures seek to advance that programme at a time when China's military modernisation has neighbours jittery.
Engineers and scientists were "a precious strategic resource for using science and technology for a strong military", the official announcement said.
"They play an important role in military development and preparations for military struggle."
The announcement, widely publicised in state media, comes after Hu's promise on Wednesday to create a military for the information age.
Addressing a meeting on the 80th anniversary of the PLA, Hu paid tribute to the armed forces and promised them more resources.
"We will gradually increase spending on national defence as the economy grows," he said. "We will ... ensure that our armed forces are capable of winning a war in the information age."
The measures promise a recruitment drive for technology specialists and improved pay and living conditions for recruits. More PLA scientists and engineers will be sent for extra training in top-flight Chinese universities, the rules say.
Leading military scientists will also enjoy a sabbatical break of up to six months every five years.
China has sought to dispel worries across the region that its rising military spending could threaten Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing says is part of its territory, and destabilise East Asia.
In March, China said it would boost defence spending by 17.8 percent to about $45 billion this year, but a Pentagon report in May said Beijing's total military-related spending could be more than double that.
In January, China rattled Washington and regional capitals by using a ground-based medium-range ballistic missile to knock out an ageing Chinese weather satellite -- a relatively simple technological feat, but one that underscored China's military ambitions.
